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Photograph by: Frank Gunn
, THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER — He acknowledges being highly motivated, but Mason Raymond insists he is carrying no chip on his shoulder as he returns to play in his longtime hockey home.

Raymond is, as he pointed out about a half-dozen times in a five-minute media scrum Friday, a Toronto Maple Leaf now.

But he was, of course, also a Vancouver Canucks veteran who was set free by his former team and had to endure a long summer and a training camp tryout to find new work.

After Friday’s practice with the Leafs at Rogers Arena, Raymond said it did not take him long to move on after it became clear the Canucks didn’t want him back.

“Players play on different teams all the time, that’s part of life,” he said. “I was here six years, that’s a decent amount of time in my opinion to play on one team."

Raymond also insisted he's not angry at the Canucks.

"No, this is business," he said. "It’s not like you get to play on one team your whole life. What the (Sedin) twins are doing is remarkable, but not everybody can be the twins. right. I couldn’t be happier to be in Toronto right now and playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

Raymond could not have been happy in the summer, when as an unrestricted free agent he waited for offers that never came. He eventually accepted a tryout offer from the Leafs and acknowledged that in hindsight the fresh start may have been a good thing for his career.

He has flourished in his new surroundings and enters Saturday afternoon’s game against the Canucks (4 p.m., CBC, Team 1040) with 11 points in 14 games.

“I am not looking back that far, but I am thoroughly enjoying Toronto and the change and different surroundings,” he said. “It has been good for me and it’s early, we are only 15 games in, but I am certainly enjoying it.”

He admits Saturday’s game against the Canucks has some special meaning and brings with it some extra motivation.

“I think that goes without saying,” he said. “You want to go and play well in every game, but especially against your former team and your teammates and more importantly prove stuff to myself.”

Raymond may have envisioned playing against the Canucks at some point in his career, but he probably didn’t think he would be doing it as Dave Bolland’s linemate.

Bolland, the former Blackhawk who is generally despised by Canuck fans as well as some of the team’s players, has formed an effective tandem with Raymond for the Leafs.

“He’s hated because he’s good, right,” Raymond said of Bolland. “He’s a good player, that’s the bottom line. He was never a guy I enjoyed playing against, but I am throughly enjoying playing with him, that’s for sure.”

Bolland and Raymond will skate on a line with David Clarkson, one of Toronto’s big free-agent signings this summer who missed the first 10 games of the season due to a suspension.

Raymond knows there will be plenty of emotions when he hits the ice Saturday and plays against a bunch of former teammates, many of whom are friends.

“Obviously, a lot of fond memories here,” he said. “Started my career here and am very, very appreciative of all the things that have happened here, made some good friends and everything, but I’ve flipped the page and am wearing a different jersey now.”

It will be strange for some of the Canucks, too.

“You play in this league long enough and you go against a lot of ex-teammates, so it is nice to see him having such a good start to the year,” said Vancouver defenceman Kevin Bieksa. “He was a guy who had to go to a camp and look for a contract and it sucks the way the CBA worked out this year for him, but he went there, he earned a spot and is doing really well and all the guys in this room are happy for him.”

Leafs coach Randy Carlyle sounded like he’s happy to have him.

“The one thing that is very visible is his ability to get around the rink,” Carlyle said of Raymond. “He’s quick, he’s a guy that can create time and space in the offensive zone with his quickness. We use him on the penalty-kill and he is a threat to push the puck up the ice and try some things offensively. We have talked to Mase about some of the things we’d like him to improve upon, but overall he has been a real positive influence in our room and he has added a speed dimension to our hockey club.”

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